Addendum to the type catalogue of the malacological collection in the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona

Martínez-Ortí, A.Prieto, M.Uribe, F.

Abstract

Addendum to the type catalogue of the malacological collection in the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona
The catalogue of type specimens of molluscs of the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona, published in 2008, is updated with new material corresponding to 42 species and subspecies of continental molluscs from the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands, and the Canary Islands. Most of these type specimens belong to historical collections of the Museum or are part of the malacological collection of Miquel Bech, donated in 2009. Information provided includes the type category, number of specimens, geographic provenance, type specimens housed at other institutions, and current taxonomical status, together with supporting texts of nomenclatures if pertinent. The catalogue also includes a brief gallery of photographs of types per taxon.

Introduction

The former catalogue of type specimens of molluscs in the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona (Natural Sciences Museum of Barcelona, MCNB) and in the Museu Valencià d’Història Natural (Valencian Museum of Natural History of Alginet, MVHN) conveys information about 134 taxa. This article (Martínez-Ortí and Uribe, 2008) was the first result of the ongoing collaboration between the malacological departments of these two museums.

Following the previous publication, a detailed survey has allowed the Museum in Barcelona to database its malacological collection, with special emphasis at the end on historical and most recent collections. Forty-two new entries of species and subspecies have been added to the catalogue of types and update the previously published list. All these species are from the Iberian peninsula, the Balearic Islands, or the Canary Islands.
Most of the new type specimens belong to the collection assembled by the Catalan malacologist Miquel Bech i Taberner (1919-2006), whose Spanish continental samples were donated to the MCNB in 2009. Miquel Bech had a long career in collecting and studying molluscs and was a longstanding scientific collaborator on mollusc projects carried out at the Museum. His endowment of some 30,000 samples has greatly enriched the scientific collections at the Museum. Among his publications, we highlight the monograph Mol·luscs terrestres i d’aigua dolça (Bech, 1990), a synthesis of his contribution to the malacological study of Catalan fauna. Type specimens in this collection are related to 17 taxa, 13 of which he described.

The donation of the Bech collection and the process of databasing its original information coincided with the revision and updating of the historic collections that are the core of the malacological section at the MCNB. In consequence, several records of molluscs have been located, recognized as type specimens, and linked to 12 taxa. Some of these lots have completed the type series already published, but most refer to new taxa in the catalogue. These materials were deposited as private collections in the Museum in Barcelona (now merged in the whole malacological collection). Prestigious malacologists contributed their collections: Artur Bofill i Poch, Joan Baptista d’Aguilar-Amat, Manuel de Chía Bajandas, and Luis Gasull Martínez.

Since the first catalogue was published, further type specimens belonging to recently described species have been donated to the Museum. The papers with such descriptions provide detailed and current information on new taxa and the rank of voucher type specimens identified by their accession number in the Museum. We consider that references to these recent types would not add further relevant information to the present catalogue. We have focused particularly on taxa that deserved exhaustive revision, either for their potential type materials, or for the associated descriptive papers.

Exceptionally, we have also included other recently described taxa, types of which have been donated to MCNB sincethe publication of their descriptions. Their presence at the Museum is acknowledgedin the present work.

Methods and results

The present inventory of type specimens follows the structure of the former catalogue byMartínez-Ortí and Uribe (2008), as detailed in its introduction. In addition to presenting data concisely and to streamlining their search in electronic format, a formal coherence for future addenda is intended. For each taxon, the following information is provided:

Complete bibliographic reference where the new taxon is described. If needed, in long papers, the page and/or figure numbers are given to facilitate location of specific information.

Transcription of the type locality, as mentioned in the aforementioned paper. Comments are given in some cases to update toponymy or help location on a map.

Type specimens housed in the MCNB, with data concerning category of the type, record number, geographic provenance (only when data from labels associated to the type specimens provide with complementary information), number of specimens and preservation method, and also the collection it may have belonged to prior to housing in the Museum of Barcelona. The acronym is MZB for zoology collections at the Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona.

Type specimens housed at other institutions.

Current systematic position.

Complete bibliographic reference of papers where the taxon is reviewed and updated. Explanations on updating reasons are included.

Nomenclatural comments that could be of special interest to readers; nomenclatural acts derived from revisions are annotated when the links between taxonomic names and actual type specimens housed in MCNB need justification.

Brief gallery of photographic images by one of the authors MP.

The number of type specimens of certain taxa cited in the previous catalogue has increased and some series have even been completed with new additions of specimens to the malacological collection at the MCNB. In such cases we have fully reproduced the previously recorded information, and updated data associated with the new specimens so as to provide a single record with all available information about the taxon. Similarly, for the purpose of managing information on a full page for each taxon, possibly redundant information is not excluded (e.g., references to current taxonomic status for species of genus Bythinella by Bech, or comments respect to the location in other centres of type specimens of taxa described by Caziot).

Once the Bech collection donated to the Museum was inventoried and documented, we noted that type material of some taxa described by the author were missing (Bech, 1979, 1993; Bech and Fernández, 1986), so that the relationship presented in this work is not as complete as we would wish. For Subulona (Subulona) anarum, the authors of this new species (Altimiras and Bech, 2000) explicitly indicated the deposition of type specimens in the Bech collection, but did not do so for the remaining individuals. Efforts made to locate the material (or at least part of it) in other centers or institutions with which the malacologist was involved have been unsuccessful to date.

Alphabetical list of mentioned collections and institutions

Centre de Recursos de Biodiversitat Animal de la Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona / Animal Biodiversity Resource Center of the Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona (Spain).

Types in other museum
There is no record of the existence of types for this taxon in other centers.

Current systematic position: Abida polyodon (Draparnaud, 1801)Abida polyodon f.lopezi is a junior synonym of Abida polyodon (Draparnaud, 1801). At the present time it is impossible to discriminate subspecies from shells only (even worse is the fact that Bech describes it as a form). Nevertheless, future anatomical and/or molecular studies should clarify such subspecific delimitations (the same applies for Abida secale margaridae) and possibly modify the proposed taxonomic status.

Toponymic note and update:Alt de la Capa is a mountain summit, Andorra la Vella is the capital of Andorra, Arinsal and Pal are towns in the La Massana parish (Andorra), Pas de la Casa is a town in the Encamp parish (Andorra), and Pico (= Pic de la) Mainera is a mountain in the Lleida Pyrenees (Spain).

Types in other museumsThere is no record of the existence of types for this taxon in other centers.

Current systematic position: Abida secale margaridae Bech, 1990
Recent molecular studies confirmed the validity of this subspecies just after its redescription from a series of 13 specimens collected in the type locality and surroundings.

Remarks
Bech (1979) adds a brief description, based on three specimens, of what he considers a variety (without naming) of B. alonsoae. Six shells in the Bech collection (MZB 2009-0421) have been identified with the same data collection quoted by Bech (1979).

Toponymic note and update:Cueva (= cave) del Toro is in the municipality of Alcúdia de Veo (= Alcudia de Veo), in the county of Plana Baixa (= Plana Baja), province of Castelló (= Castellón); Cueva Covatilla is in the municipality of Aín (= Ahín), in the county of the Plana Baixa, province of Castelló.

Remarks
Morphological characteristics of holotype are: 4.40 mm diameter, 2.83 mm in height, 4 ½ turns. The paratypes are juveniles; characteristics of the largest specimen are: 4.34 mm diameter, 2.15 mm high, 3¾ turns. Bech (2002), contrary to the dimensions of the type sample, referred the following data: 11.01 to 11.8 mm in diameter, 5.5-5.7 mm high, 5-5½ turns. Chueca et al. (2018) have described a new genus, Backeljaia, to which some Iberian species of Candidula have been associated: C. camporroblensis, C. corbellai, C. gigaxii and C. najerensis. The conchiological similarity between B. mangae and B. camporroblensis (Fez, 1944), and their geographic ranges suggests the synonymy of these two taxons (Martínez-Ortí, 2011). However, in his unpublished PhD, Carlos Prieto (1986) described a new species that should belong to the new genus Backeljaia from the province of Burgos; later, Puente and Prieto (1992) and Puente (1994) named this taxa mangae, and they outlined its conchiological similarity with Helicella silosensis (Ortiz de Zárate, 1950). Facing these uncertainties, for the time being we prefer to consider the types of Candidula mangae as Backeljaia sp.

Remarks
The whereabouts of the photographed specimen in the original publication (replicated in Bech and Altimiras, 2003, Butll. Centre d’Est. Natura B-N, 6: 45-46) are unknown. A specimen from Aguilas, province of Murcia (MZB 2009-3497), collected and also determined as Gasulliella murciana by the same authors, shows an ornamentation very close to Hatumia cobosi (figs. 1-2).

Toponymic note and update: Santa Elena de Jamuz, Alija del Infantado, and La Bañeza are municipalities in the province of León; Villanueva de Jamuz is an inhabited locality in the municipality of Santa Elena de Jamuz.

Remarks
The first list of types of this taxon (Martínez-Ortí and Uribe, 2008) did not include any sample from the Museum of Barcelona. Chueca et al. (2018) have described a new genus, Backeljaia, to which some Iberian species of Candidula have been associated; one of these being C. najerensis.

Toponymic note and update: Arsenal Civil, in the city of Barcelona, were a set of old factory buildings located in the Can Tunis borough (= Casa Antúnez), on the shores of the Llobregat river, near the port of Barcelona.

Toponymic note and update: Arsenal Civil, in the city of Barcelona, was a group of old factory buildings in the Can Tunis borough (= Casa Antúnez), on the shores of the Llobregat river, near the port of Barcelona.

Types in other museums
The Caziot collection is scattered around different museums in France, and type specimens are missing. Therefore, the number of specimens in the original typical series is unknown.

Types in other museums
The Caziot collection is scattered around different museums in France, and type specimens are missing. Therefore, the number of specimens of the original typical series is unknown.

Types in other museums
The Caziot collection is scattered around different museums in France, and type specimens are missing. Therefore, the number of specimens of the original typical series is unknown.

Types in other museums
Holotype: Centre de Recursos de Biodiversitat Animal de la Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, CRBA3687.
Paratypes: Centre de Recursos de Biodiversitat Animal de la Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, (1 paratype, CRBA3688) + in the private collections of authors.

Types in other museums
Holotype: Centre de Recursos de Biodiversitat Animal de la Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, CRBA3685.
Paratypes: Centre de Recursos de Biodiversitat Animal de la Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (1 paratype, CRBA3686) + in the private collections of authors.

Types in other museums
Holotype: Centre de Recursos de Biodiversitat Animal de la Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, CRBA4261.
Paratypes: Centre de Recursos de Biodiversitat Animal de la Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (2 paratypes, CRBA4262, 4263) + in the private collections of authors.

Remarks
The holotype (MZB 2009-2302) was originally associated with a red label, without explicit indication of its type status. On the contrary, 12 specimens of the original type series were linked to a white label where it reads “paratipus”. Two of these specimens, erroneously attributed by Bech to N. herreroi, have been reassigned to the genus Mercuria and excluded from the type series with the code MZB 2009-2303-B (Martínez-Ortí, in press). The specimens now deposited at the Museu Valencià d’Història Natural belong to the original sample, and remain in the private collection of the collector, Dr. J. J. Herrero-Borgoñón Pérez. These specimens have been considered as paratypes according to article 72.4.1.1 of the ICZN (1999) (Martínez-Ortí, in press).

Remarks
In the paper by Ortiz de Zárate and Ortiz de Zárate (1961) they only mentioned one paratype specimen held in their collection. Nevertheless, the specimen housed in the Gasull collection must be considered a valid paratype since it was part of the sample studied by the authors for describing the taxon. On the label, handwritten by Ortiz de Zárate, the word “paratipo” is of note These specimens should be considered paratypes according to article 72.4.1.1 of the ICZN (1999).

Toponymic note and update: Serrat d’Eurtí is an orographic element in the county of La Cerdanya, province of Girona (= Gerona)]; Can Roset (= Cal Rosset) is a country house in the municipality of Puigcerdà, province of Girona.

Types in other museums
There is no record of of types for this taxon in other centers.

Current systematic position: Aegopinella sp.
On a label, probably added after the publication, Bech rectifies and assigns the new species to the genus Aegopinella. To clarify its specific assignment it would be necessary to study new material from the area where the holotype was collected.

Remarks
The type material of C. acus (locus typicus Sevilla) could not be studied or compared with the type material of S. anarum, because it disappeared during the Second World War. We have had access to the photos of the syntypes of the seven species of Coilostele described by Bourguignat (1880) from the locality of Sevilla (fig. 3), carried out by Dr. Carlos Prieto (University of the Basque Country), and which are deposited at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Genève (Switzerland). These species are considered later synonyms of C. acus (Boettger, 1905; Neubert in Audibert, 2010): C. castroiana, C. hispanica, C. laevigata, C. letourneuxiana, C. raphidia, C. servaini and C. tumidula. The only type material found of S. anarum is the holotype, deposited at the MCNB that coincides with the typical conquiliological characteristics of C. acus, from which we consider Subulona anarum as junior synonymous. Altimiras and Bech (2000) cite several paratypes deposited at the Bech collection, which have not been located among the material of said collection currently deposited at the MCNB. Altimiras and Bech (2000) point out as locus typicus of S. anarum “Cuencas hidrográficas del arroyo del Entrín Verde y río Guadajira, afluentes de la margen izquierda del río Guadiana (provincia de Badajoz)” [= hydrographic basins of the Entrin Verde stream and Guadajira river, tributaries of the left bank of the Guadiana river (province of Badajoz)]. This should be corrected to Guadajira river [tributary of the Guadiana river], sampling station no. 2 (UTM=29SQD0102, at the municipality of Lobón), since the type material has been designated from that locality, among the 14 sampling stations cited by Altimiras and Bech (ICZN, 1999: Article 76, Recommendation 76A.2).
Alberto Martínez-Ortí.

Remarks
The morphology of type specimens of Trochoidea escolai corresponds to that ofHelicella huidroboi (Azpeitia, 1925), endemic to the Iberian-Mediterranean region associated with steppe and very dry habitats (Martínez-Ortí, 1999). This remarkable resemblance questions the geographical origin of the aforementioned types. According to their labels, they were collected in the Pyrenees of Huesca, at 2,000 m altitude. Martínez-Ortí (op. cit.) points the northernmost coast of northern Tarragona as the septentrional limit of distribution of H. huidobroi. Compare photographs of types of T. escolai with a sample of H. huidobroi housed in the Natural Science Museum of Barcelona (MZB 84-2483, ex. col. Gasull), from the town of Guardamar, in the province of Alicante.

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful for the assistance locating type specimens in other collections of Cédric Audibert (Centre de Conservation et d’Etudes des Collections, Musée des Confluences, Lyon, France), Ronald Janssen (Sektionsleiter Malakologie, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany), and María Yolanda Manga (Estación Agrícola Experimental de León, CSIC, Spain). Special thanks to Carlos Enrique Prieto (Departamento de Zoología y Biología Celular Animal, Universidad del País Vasco, Spain) for providingthe pictures of sintipus mentioned by Bourguignat that are held in the Muséum d’histoire naturelle, Geneva. The description of type specimens belonging to the Bech collection has taken advantage of the contribution by Sebastián Calzada (Museo Geológico del Seminario de Barcelona, Spain), Arturo Valledor (Madrid, Spain), Jacint Altimiras (Vic, Spain), and Miguel Ángel Alonso Zarazaga (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid). The imagery showed in the paper is indebted to Sergi Gago for his advice on the pictures of specimens housed at the Museum, and to the Section of Electron Microscopy of the SCSIE of the University of Valencia for the photographs in the MEB Hitachi S–4100. This study was partially supported by the PROMETEO nº2012/042, Aid Program for Research Groups of Excellence, Generalitat Valenciana (Spain).